Tomorrow be Eternity
by addictsylaire
Summary: I recognized emotions that had lain dormant in my being since my mother's death. I understood you that day.. a Sylaire story. Please R&R.


Thanks to my awesome beta Brandie who made it possible twice:)

"TOMORROW BE ETERNITY"

"Have you decided on an order yet, Madam?" inquired Claire, standing patiently and ready to take the customer's order. She caught wind of a new job after she had taken up a new place. She had to keep changing her locations frequently after her infamous jump from the Ferris wheel, which had given a whole new perspective for the specials in the world. They hid now when they had used to walk with pride before. Not displaying their powers, but not even necessarily hiding what had been bestowed upon them from above. She was brought back from her reverie by the snapping of the customer's fingers in front of her face. The lady wanted one of the specials. The irony of the word bought a grimace upon Claire's countenance as she turned and walked away to get the order.

After she was done with her shift, she stepped outside her workplace, slipping into her coat she had grabbed in a hurry on her way out. The cold wind hit her with a force and she buttoned herself up and started towards home when she felt a presence beside her. She looked up, startled. He had a baseball cap on, casting shadows on his face and partially concealing it. Her heart lurched in her chest when she realized who it was. Claire had stopped dead in her tracks upon noticing him, but now she turned her head away and started on her way, defiantly. Quickly, he caught her wrist, making it impossible for her to move. She tried to shrug her hand away from his but his grip was stronger.

"Let me go, Sylar," she hissed.

"Please listen to me. Listen to what I have to say," pleaded Sylar.

"There remains nothing to be said Sylar, now leave me. Let me go!"

"Just hear me out please, Claire. Don't you think if I wanted to force you I could have done so? But I want you to do this willingly, just this once." Claire turned to look at him then and she saw an unrecognizable emotion in his dark eyes. Was it despair or something else entirely, she wasn't too sure.

He took her silence for as confirmation and silently pointed towards the park across the street. He then let go of her wrist and Claire looked down where, just seconds ago, his fingers gripped her. As they walked towards the park, Claire looked up at him, seemingly confused. This was out of character for Sylar. She had last seen him at the carnival. She never wished to look at this monster again, but here he was beside her - no, not demanding, but asking her to listen to hear him out. She looked away, afraid that he would catch her staring at him and twist it into something creepy and abhorring.

They walked through the lush, green park covered with fresh dew. She saw activity all around her, people oblivious of the cold. Sylar led her to an unoccupied bench on the deserted side of the park and motioned for her to sit down. Claire sat down, pulling her coat lapels closer to her neck. She noticed that Sylar had not sat down but was pacing in front of her, agitated. This was getting weirder by the passing moment and Sylar's pacing was making her uncomfortable. She cleared her throat.

"Umm… Sylar…"she began.

"Shh...Let me compose myself," whispered a clearly disoriented Sylar, avoiding her eyes.

Claire's mouth snapped shut and she folded her small, gloved hands on her lap.

Obviously, he had composed himself, for he sat down. Claire kept her eyes forward, not bothering to look at the man beside her.

"Claire, this is very difficult for me." started Sylar.

"Apparently, I can see that. Sylar, you are wasting my time. You've never taken this long to make a point until now. And never did you have to ask for my permission. You were never this confused in the past, Sylar. What's changed now, huh?" asked Claire, her eyes focused pointedly in front of her.

"That is what I am trying to tell you, Claire. It's _me_ who has changed," said Sylar, his eyes trying to capture hers.

"Oh? Don't give me that bullshit about being trapped in your freaking mind for 3 years changing you!" snapped Claire. Her mouth formed a thin line.

"Have I ever lied to you, Claire? Have I ever? Look at me!" demanded Sylar, his eyes growing darker by the second. Claire grudgingly looked at him and was momentarily shaken upon looking into his dark eyes.

"No," whispered Claire, her voice so silent that, had it not been for his super-hearing power, he would not have heard her at all.

"Then I won't start lying to you now, Claire. It is as difficult for me to say as it will be for you to hear, but bear with me please," begged Sylar. And Claire felt her head nod in response. Sylar let go a deep breath that he had been holding.

"The first time I saw you, I felt a hunger for your power. The second time I saw you, I took your power by cutting open your head. I did what no sane person would ever dream of doing. But I did it, Claire, because I was possessed like a demon. This hunger in me, it drove me to commit acts that can never be forgiven and I would forever repent for my sinful acts. But Claire, that day I probed into your mind I saw things. I felt and I recognized emotions that had lain dormant in my being since my mother's death. I understood you that day, Claire. I understood what made you different, special.

Then, that reverie was broken as soon as I stepped out of your house and that beast, that _hunger_, took control again. The offer I made to you at the Stanton may have seemed absurd and bizarre, but it was spoken by the hunger, the hunger that began to crave for _you_. No, not for your power, but for _you_, Claire!"

Claire gasped, her face contorting.

"I know that you are disgusted, judging by the look on your face. But so am I. The feelings that I had for you were not pure. But then you showed up on my arm and you showed me that I had to get rid of my powers and as a result, I was trapped in my mind alone for _3 years_. The agony I had to face, Claire, it was almost too much. The torment and horror of spending eternity alone, but then Peter came along .It changed _everything,_ but the experience taught me and I learned the hard way. I choose eternity, Claire. I took it from you, not really knowing what I was getting into, but those years in hell taught me," he shuddered. Claire couldn't judge if it was from the cold or by the memory. She searched his eyes and she was afraid of the raw emotions his eyes projected.

"Claire," he began again, stealing a look at her face. "That Hell made me a reformed man. I helped mankind at the carnival that day and I felt _good_, so different than what I was used to. Then you revealed us to the world and changed _everything_. But trust me Claire, I looked at your motive at the time with pride. I looked forward to the Brave New World, but it would not be. We were feared and hunted and driven into sewers, but still I did not look upon your actions with scorn, because the change was due someday. A secret so big as that could not have been kept under wraps for long.

We parted ways that day at the carnival. You never saw me again, but I kept on seeing you, Claire, in my dreams," Sylar sighed and his head dropped in embarrassment.

Claire saw that his face was flushed red. This was very weird for her and she couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry. She couldn't believe she was hearing this from his mouth. She was then amused to see Sylar squirm besides her. He turned toward her then, his dark orbs focused intently on hers. "Claire, my life is not mine any longer… _you_ possess it. My breaths whisper _your_ name; my heart beats erratically for _you_. I know how to live everyday whispering _your_ name in prayer, but I don't know how to drown you out of my system. Claire, I was once a strong man, but now I am at _your_ mercy. You unknowingly control me. I know you must loathe me, and believe me, I know how to lose a war, but I don't know how to win your love. I know that it means nothing to you, but I don't know how to let this pass. Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with you and now I don't know how to undo it."

Tears streamed down his face and he wiped them away with one swift movement from the back of his hand. He quickly stood up and Claire followed suit, her mind in turmoil. She came to stand before him, looking up at him. His dark eyes were now rimmed red and they betrayed his innermost feelings to her. She saw agony, despair, anger, love and most of all, the truth of his words reflected in his eyes. He had bared himself in front of her, literally, and she feared for him now. She was at loss for words. She had never realized that she could reduce Sylar to a broken man.

"Sylar, there is so much history between us. There is so much that I cannot forget. I don't know about the future, but right now, I just can't forget what you did. I believe that you have changed for good, but for others… not for me, Sylar. I still see you as a tormentor. You may not have killed since being trapped in your own mind, but I still have nightmares of you. You whisper _my_ name in prayer, but I whisper _yours_ in horror. I possess your life, but you tormented mine. Your heart beats for me, but mine beats rapidly of fear of you. Sylar, it pains me… it crushes me, but from this day onwards, our roles will be reversed. From today on, I will be _your_ tormentor and _you_ will be the tormented," her voice turned heavy in her throat.

She touched his hand then, tentatively slipping her fingers between his and gave them a gentle squeeze. Sylar's face registered a shock and he looked down at her, not yet comprehending the gesture. Her hand felt so small in his; his was so warm while hers was cold. They were as different as the sun and the moon. But the sun and the moon needed each other; they crossed each other's path and dominated the other's path often until eternity. But they remained together. She couldn't yet determine where her eternity led her.

"Today, you and I walk our own separate paths, Sylar. But there's eternity and there's hope," whispered Claire, a lone tear falling down her face and she squeezed his hand in assurance once more, disappearing into the night, which had crept upon them silently.

A cold gust of wind bought him out of his trance-like-state and he felt that today was not a waste. His heart was broken in ways that one couldn't imagine. He had not bet upon him succeeding in speaking to Claire, blurting out and exposing his inner self. He didn't think that he would literally carve out his heart and place it in Claire's hand, leaving it upon her to puncture in or put it back inside his pericardium, into its cavity.

He looked across the horizon at the darting clouds, merging and wandering in rhythm and synchronization. He smiled and thanked Claire silently. He now felt that tomorrow, there was hope and there was _eternity_.


End file.
